Use your Android Phone as a Wireless Hotspot (Rooted Phones Only)

We have recently covered how to use your Android phone to access the internet on your computer. This process is known as tethering. By connecting your phone, via a USB cable, to your computer you are able to use the phone’s data connection to browse the web on your computer. In places where there aren’t any wireless hotspots, tethering is incredibly useful.

Another useful method of sharing your internet connection is by setting up your phone as a portable wireless hotspot. The phone essentially creates its own network which your computer(s) can then join. The advantage of this is that you do not need a cable and you can have multiple computers sharing your phone’s internet connection. If you have already upgraded to Froyo (Android 2.2), you should have the wireless hotspot baked into it. Otherwise, for those who have taken the plunge and rooted your device, here are two great apps that allow you to share your phone’s data connection.Note: It is advisable that you have an unlimited data plan before attempting tethering as it tends to use a lot of bandwidth.

Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether

After launching Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether, you will see a large “Start” button on the top of your screen. This activates the wireless hotspot function, but it is better to set-up a password before starting the Wi-Fi service.

Click on “Menu” and “Settings” to launch the options menu.

From the settings menu you can change the following options:

SSID

BSSID

Wireless Encryption

Access Control

Channel

Interface Settings (WAN or LAN)

DHCP and NAT configuration.

The SSID is the name that shows up on your computer when you are searching for Wi-Fi networks, hence it is useful to keep the name memorable.

The wireless encryption options are limited to WEP (less secure than WPA), but it is still very important to encrypt your browsing by setting up a password here.

Finally, you can change the channel settings if you find that you are unable to connect to your phone from your computer.

Once you have made all the appropriate changes, launch the wireless connection by clicking on “Start”.

You will be asked for superuser permissions (advanced privileges to access certain settings to enable this app to work). Allow the app these permissions and it will immediately start the necessary services to broadcast a Wi-Fi signal.

On your computer you should be able to see the new Wi-Fi hotspot.

You will be asked for your WEP passphrase when you connect to this hotspot.

Immediately, after connecting you will notice that in the notification shade on your Android phone that you have an alert. Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether will have noted the connection attempt by your PC and it will display it.

Finally, you can view how much data is being transmitted by clicking on the “traffic” button.

To stop transmitting click on the “Stop” button and exit the app.

Android Wi-Fi Tether

Android Wi-Fi Tether works in mainly the same way, however it does offer a greater variety of features.

After launching the app you will see the green Wi-Fi bars logo.

Again it is useful to first make the appropriate changes to the options before launching the app. Click on “Menu” and “Setup”.

There are a number of options including:

Option to use Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi encryption settings

SSID settings

Option to change the Wi-Fi frequency channel

Enabling Access Control

Notification settings

As with Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether it is important to assign a memorable SSID name and to use a strong password.

In addition, it is useful to switch on “Access Control.” This option enables you to decide whether you want a particular computer to connect or not (see below).

After you have made the appropriate changes to the options, go back to the main page and click on the green Wi-Fi logo. The app will start broadcasting a wireless signal.

Next, on your computer connect to the new network.

You will see the new network appear in the Android notification shade.

However, the connection has not been complete as you must grant your computer access to your phone’s data connection. You must click on your computer’s name in the notification shade and grant it access.

Once your computer is properly connected it will start transmitting data. To stop the wireless signal click on the grey Wi-Fi logo.

Conclusion

Both apps are very similar, however I marginally prefer Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether as Android Wi-Fi Tether does not appear to be in the AppBrain marketplace, making it harder to update automatically.

Finally, while these apps are great at what they do, once all Android phones are updated to version 2.2, Google’s built-in USB tethering and portable Wi-Fi hotspot features will make rooting and using these apps unnecessary. So, these apps remain useful to those phone still stuck on Android 2.1 or below.

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By the way, not all handsets that are receiving the 2.2 Android (FROYO) update will be allowed to use WiFi tethering and other functions that a rooted phone can do. Therefore, your information about the WiFI tethering applications will be very valuable to many. I used it to finally get it on my Moto Droid. Thank you and keep this information updated.

Good info. I have rooted my Evo and installed Wireless Tether. I was able to connect to my laptop and the internet using wireless_tether_2_0_5-pre7.apk from http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/list . However, I want to use it as a hotspot, and having problems. I can also connect my mac to the network, but can’t surf the internet b/c phone doesn’t show the mac with access control enabled. I have tried to disable/enable access control but Mac still does not show up. Any ideas?

I wasn’t able to get this to work. Everything is set up correctly and my network never appeared on my computer. I used the Android Wi-Fi Tether instead of forking up the $2 for the Barnacle app. Does anyone suggest just paying for Barnacle? Which one works better. I am sick of being trapped in airports without wireless internet.

this an amazing feature for people that have no net access, yes you can hook up to x-box and all game sytems as the phone doubles exactly as a wireless router. I now recommend the android to any rural net customers that I cannot install a reliable signal to.

After doing this process do u no what the nat type is?…do u no if its open or stric…bkuz in order to download demos and other thing like listen to your friends and get into games on xbox your nat setting has to be open..if set to anything else u can still play xbox and what not but u can’t download demos and you won’t b able to chat with friends via mic headsets and join certain games so once again if you do this process that u guys speak of like rooting your phone and downloading this app will the nat be set to open? Please I need a answer ckuz I’m having a hard time with this myself I need to no if the nat will b open

Unfortunately, rooting is quite a complex process and is almost always device and region specific. I would recommend checking out http://theunlockr.com/how-tos/ for some basic beginner-level guides. Also searching on Google for “[device name] android rooting” will often yield a lot of useful results.

If I have a 4g phone would I be able to use it as a wifi connection for my computer and get rid if comcast internet? Is the speed and connection reliable? What about a 3g phone? Not looking for speed just browsing online

I tried to enable my Sprint HotSpot but of course I ended up having to call them to activate it. I am paying sprint $29.99 a month to run the Sprint HotSpot on my phone. I see no mention of paying a carrier in this reading . Is it free to utilize the hotspot through Barnacal WIFI or Android WIFI or do I still have to pay to enable to capability on my phone?

the only way it’s free is if you root your phone. With the 2.2 froyo updat the capability was taken away. You should know that if you root your phone and Sprint finds out the have the right to terminate your contract and you are still liable for the early termination fees.

Depends what you mean – you cannot use Android software on BB currently (it is promised for the future though) You can certainly do it as a tethered system with the standard software. Not sure about the wi-fi bridging part though as BB won’t do ad hoc networks currently, though there might be an app.

Yes, you still can receive and make call, but you won’t be able to connect to 3G network while a call is in progress. While the tethering connection is still active, your computer won’t be able to transmit/receive any data.

I have not seen any specification regarding the number of connected users. Personally, I have connected up to 3 users and they all work fine. One thing though, the more connected users, the slower the Internet speed.

What if you are using your friend’s hotspot connection.. can they see what you surf or your computer details? Is that easy to look into someone else’s laptop if you are sharing someone using android wifi hotspot? please let me know

Is using a ‘hotspot’ as an internet connection for a desktop a viable alternate to say using Comcast? For instance, will my page loading, downloading speeds etc be pretty close to the same ? Also, I know I want the android phone to be plugged into it’s charger while doing this – will that be sufficient to keep up with my constant use of the internet (and I mean constant)? Can I fire Comcast?

yes u can use ur phone totally, i do it all the time, but just know ur cell phone company might get hip to it and start charging u for usage of the hotspot, but not too much of a charge, so u could either set up an additional pymt or try n get away with the extra charge as much as u can. (lol) i also keep my droid plugged while using hotspot but i do tend to lose connection every now and then but not for a long time, probably a minute or two, its just irritating when i do lose connection. and im not too sure about firing comcast, i guess that’d be up to u. maybe try using ur phone first to see how reliable ur hotspot works before letting them go.

Thanks for responding. I have Boost Mobile and am considering upgrading to an android phone for the purpose of using it as a hotspot. In case this information is useful, I called Boost Customer Support and the person I spoke with wasn’t familiar with ‘hotspots’. So she transferred me to tech support and that person said that they have lots of customers that do this and that Boost does not “sell” this service and don’t have any problem with this practice. They will neither charge or cancel service for those that use their phones as hotspots.

I don’t know about Boost but I do the tethering from my phone & I have Simple mobile & they cut my data off on my phone every month for about the last week of my cycle, if not longer. This month I’m going 2 Weeks w/o it! They say it’s unlimited, but trust me when I say it’s not & the way I found out at first was them sending me a warning text message telling me I was at risk 4 my data being cut off bc I was not following my Terms & Conditions & gave me a # 2 call which just referred me 2 them on the website. So just be careful on how much u use it BC they call it “constant streaming” & will Zap ur data!

I am not sure how fast what is the speed of Comcast, but previously I have used the Internet tethering as the only Internet connection for my workplace, and I have survived for more than a year. It still depends on how fast your Telco allows you to connect on your mobile and if there is any data limit.

I have a HTC EVO Sprint and it is hot spot ready. I use it to connect to my laptop . Works great. What I want to know is can I use it on my jvc 30hdt indash navigational and radio for 3g and wi fi. Thanks

There is an app called “FoxFi” in the market that does NOT even require rooting. It is new so may not work on some phones such as those made by HTC but works on my motorola and samsung phones perfectly fine.

What I suggest everyone does, if they dont have a contract with unlimted internet, is get a GiffGaff sim for free and use that. It comes with Unlimted internet!! I am using this on my ZTE BLADE with i just rooted using universal root. I am going to use the internet on my PS VITA